Ethan Dodd – Visual Artist. Cardiff, Wales

March 15, 2014April 3, 2014

Documentation 14/03/14

The creation process is interesting at the moment, I am currently reading a book labelled ‘Edgelands’ by Paul Farley, which is an intriguing read about the way that our countryside has merged with our urban areas, becoming a form of ‘haven’ for wildlife that we as humans often overlook. It’s incredibly relevant to my project, and my growing interests in the decay that punctuates our society and cities, and so I am currently putting most of my time into this reading.

However, I have begun to experiment with some other items I have recovered from my urban excursions, most notably this piece of rusted, metal fencing. Interestingly, playing with the ideas of Minimalism, I can stand the object up like some form of ‘alabaster monument’, epitomising the aspects of loneliness on the soul. The shape is fascinating; top-heavy and angular, giving the impression that it is a unstable, artificial object.

Detail of object

However, the most haunting and beautiful aspect of the object is not it’s form, but the way it’s outer shell appears to the viewer. The plaster ran down the many grooves and deviations that the rust created on the form, granting it the appearence of gnarled bark (of course, very clean and pure Gnarled Bark at that). This juxtaposition of something that lives on an alive object, but is often seen as the most dead part of the tree, on an artificial, decaying object is startling. Once again, there is a purity, but it appears tarnished.

I also experimented with a damaged box I saw someone throwing out, and so was quite a fresh specimen, unlike the previous crates which had resided in the desolate area for an unrecorded length of time; soaking up the history and essence of the area. Once again, it has been painted white, but this was more an experiment in applying the plaster to the object, which was done through the act of pouring. There is a sense of entropy in my pieces, of energy that has been absorbed, or has bled out from, an object. This ‘absence of energy’ , or the aspect of ‘potential’ has become rather pivotal to my work’s evolution, and therefore, something I must meditate upon.

Detail of Object, the blurring (on account of my poor camera skills) in the image creates an interesting effect

I also discovered this ‘cage’ in the space today, and it has inspired me to create some sort of ‘nest’, of which I have been considering as of late for it’s spatial qualities. I will have to investigate further into this.